In her latest post, earlier this week, she suggests the travellers’ only hope of avoiding eviction is for them to engage with villagers living nearby.

She writes: “There may be no protection from eviction while they pursue other legal avenues unless their neighbours can be encouraged to engage with the travellers, recognise their humanity, and the fundamental rights that go with it, and support their residence at Dale Farm.”

Well, given how long they've been fighting to get them off that site, if you somehow manage that, Ms Craig-Green, might I suggest you try Israel/Palestine afterwards?

And after that, perhaps the cat/dog enmity?

She adds: “I fear, as the travellers do, the traveller community will be scattered across the country, separating families and creating yet more obstacles to them exercising their traditional way of life. ”

Now, I'm no International Relations graduate, but isn't being 'scattered across the country' exactly what they claim to be their 'traditional lifestyle'?

Isn't it, in fact, why they are known as 'travellers'?

But it seems Ms Craig-Green has much rosier spectacles than her photo would imply. That, or she knows nothing about travellers at all:

“They are uncertain every night whether or not they will be evicted from their homes in the morning, which causes them much worry and strain.

Due to this uncertain situation, they have therefore not developed any sort of permanent relationship with their environment and much of the site is dilapidated and in disarray.”

Yes, quite unlike all other traveller encampments, eh..?

“The travellers at Dale Farm remain strong and dignified, despite their precarious living situation, overt prejudice from their neighbours and their ongoing struggle to preserve their way of life in a society designed for settled, literate people.”

If literacy is such a part of their culture that they consider it one of the things that sets them apart, why are you trying to teach them to read?

22 comments:

However, going by my own experience of these "communities" this is not usually the case. One lot set up next door to someone I used to do business with. They had to hire a 24 security team as the scum would be cutting through the fences literally every night.

Then there were the lot that took over an urban site near me recently ... the place still reeks of human faeces months afterwards.

As to the motivations of these lefties I really think they have something wrong with their brains at times. It seems to be the case that they think anything thats against western values is good, anything a sensible person would consider good is bad in their eyes.

If you wish to develop a property and live on it, it is perfectly possible to do so. A glance along the newsagent's shelves will show several titles dedicated to the self-build market. Guestimates are that about 15,000 houses are self-builds, that's about 10% of all newbuilds.

As Britain has no restrictions on who may buy property rights, the Irish travellers are able to do so. Had they bought development land and complied with the planning regs, then they would be all done by now. There are many developments based on mobile homes in East Anglia. Here is an example.

Indeed, Essex has a tradition of self-build strip-development, known as plotlands.

So nobody is stopping them any more than they are stopping you, me or Farmer Palmer from developing land which is earmarked for that purpose. But if any of us want to, we have to comply with the planning and building regulations.

What is the silly American on about? Nobody's rights have been infringed because they don't have the right to stick up a shanty on agricultural land in the first place.

(At this point Mark Wadsworth intervenes to explain how LVT will sort it out.)

I'm Matt, I have lived in Billericay almost my entire life and I was born in Basildon. Susan (variously, according to all of you charmers, the "fucktard", "fuckwit" "tart" this article was written about) is my wife. we have been together for over ten years and she is a full-time mum to our two young children. She volunteers her time at the Dale Farm site, where she helps residents that cannot read to understand the council communications they receive and is trying to help those that want to learn to read.

Susan has many more photographs of her time at the site and she will be putting more online in the future. The "pikeys" didn't nick her camera, but they did pray for our son when he was very ill in hospital - no pictures of that, sorry.

I don't doubt that there are troublemakers at this site and at others, too, but do you really think it is right to lump all of the Travellers in together? It wouldn't be fair of me to call all blog commenters ignorant racist nazi-sympathising bigots, just because SOME of you are, would it?

Some of their practices seem nuts to me, but just because they are different, doesn't make them any better or worse. If certain elements have been behaving illegally, I am sure the authorities will deal with them appropriately.

No, it wouldn't be fair, but it certainly would be the level of discourse we've come to expect from the usual useful idiots that ally themselves to leftist causes (even by marriage, it seems), so knock yourself out, if you wish.

"If certain elements have been behaving illegally, I am sure the authorities will deal with them appropriately."

I'm guessing you don't read much news.

You have noticed, have you not, that Dale Farm is an illegal camp on greenbelt?

You have noticed the reluctance of councils and the police to deal with these landthieves as they deal with any normal taxpaying member of society who dares put a foot wrong?

It wouldn't be fair of me to call all blog commenters ignorant racist nazi-sympathising bigots

But you will, in a round about way, anyway.

And except for the "ignorant" part, my opinions are formed from personal experience, I will hold my hands up PROUDLY to the rest.

I never WOULD have done. But then Gypoes, ragheads, coons, queers, chavs, work shy, and whatever else, have filled their own nests with so much shit, it makes one wonder if "Nazis" did not have a point.

It sounds like you think that the health of a sick child "doesn't cut much ice" when compared with the horror of contravening planning laws. Did you really mean to type that? I only ask because it makes you seem kind of crazy...and I'm sure you are not.

Funnily enough, the Travellers actually DO have trouble filling in benefit forms, too.

You seem VERY well informed on the whole issue, so I am sure you know that much of the Dale Farm site is a legal settlement. Presumably you have no issue with those travellers in that part of the site. With regards to inactivity on behalf of the council and law enforcement, you are probably better served by addressing your complaints to them, rather than to me (something tells me that you may have done this already, which I think is great. I don't believe anyone should be engaging in criminal activity and those that do deserve a fit and proper punishment).

I'm very sorry that you felt spoken to by my clear reference to "Furor Teutonicus" and his tasteful referencing of one of the Holocaust architects. That clearly wasn't meant for you; if you want to identify just with the "racist bigot" bit, fine by me. FT is clearly a well-balanced individual...

Have you heard the one about the man who shouted "imbecile" in a pub just to see who turned round?

Love and kisses to you all, except FT - I don't want to catch anything

"Susan is originally from Oklahoma and is an International Relations graduate of Oklahoma State University. She first came to Europe on a Bailey Scholarship to the University of Leipzig, to study the changing role of women in reunified Germany, returning to teach in Germany two years later on a Fulbright scholarship. In 2002, she left a role at an IT market research consultancy to complete an MA in Human Rights at the University of Essex..."

I stopped reading at this point. Susan is clearly a cunt who can just fuck off back to Oklahoma and take her smug cunt of a husband with her.